Cutting the cord

[Mazrim]

Originally Posted by Hanni

I have a Fire Stick that I have never been able to get the Sportsnet app to work properly on. I also have a previous gen Nvidia Shield that works flawlessly at Sportnet and every other streaming app, awesome box IMO.

Thanks for the info! Would you recommend the basic Shield TV or the Shield TV Pro?

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Thanks for the info! Would you recommend the basic Shield TV or the Shield TV Pro?

If you get the basic Shield TV I would also get a MicroSD card as the 8gb storage goes away real quick after installing apps and the always useful Kodi. For most uses the Basic Shied TV will do 95% of what the pro will do. I have both and I do not notice much of a speed difference if any in both devices.

I have tried all the streaming devices and have settled on the Shield because it has the least "downfalls" out of any device with really the only shortcoming being that it does not have native frame rate matching that Apple TV and fire stick implement. However both of those devices have greater downfalls that I can't get past. Apple TV although amazing in quality and speed is an absolute nightmare to install and maintain Kodi and the fire stick is just to slow for my taste and missing a few apps I frequent (also screw ads on the main media page, what the hell)

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by Mazrim

Thanks for the info! Would you recommend the basic Shield TV or the Shield TV Pro?

When I bought mine it was when they only had one model I believe so I didn't have the option. I think it would compare to the pro (definitely does price wise).

[Mazrim]

Thanks for the help everyone. I ended up buying the pro today since it has more options to get more out of it. Early results were mixed as apparently my wifi wasn't strong enough to sustain a 60 fps feed on Sportsnet Now tonight. I'll have to figure out how to get a wired connection to the Shield and see if that helps. If not, I'll probably return it.

For reference, I've been getting flawless 60 fps streaming of Sportsnet Now on my PC but I would like to use my PC while having sports on the TV, so I can't use that setup forever.

[Diemenz]

^
Is the pro fully updated? I did have wifi issues before I did updates on the device. I am running wired on all devices so haven’t tested wifi in a long time.

[Hemi-Cuda]

So the Sportsnet Now app was updated on Android TV and at first glance it looks great, much better layout and functionality. But actually watching games I seem to be getting a lot of stuttering and buffering compared to before. Anyone else seeing the same?

[kermitology]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

So the Sportsnet Now app was updated on Android TV and at first glance it looks great, much better layout and functionality. But actually watching games I seem to be getting a lot of stuttering and buffering compared to before. Anyone else seeing the same?

Sportsnet feeds for the NHL app are complete garbage. If you switch to another feed, the quality is great, but Sportsnet freezes and has aliasing. It’s so bad.

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by Hemi-Cuda

So the Sportsnet Now app was updated on Android TV and at first glance it looks great, much better layout and functionality. But actually watching games I seem to be getting a lot of stuttering and buffering compared to before. Anyone else seeing the same?

Yup, even on the shield now it buffers, hardwired to gig internet.

I also just remember that I actually misremembered in my previous post about the Sportsnet app not working on the Fire Stick, it actually worked last season (not great but it did), now that the app is updated I can't even login anymore on it.

[gasman]

Originally Posted by Hanni

Yup, even on the shield now it buffers, hardwired to gig internet.

I also just remember that I actually misremembered in my previous post about the Sportsnet app not working on the Fire Stick, it actually worked last season (not great but it did), now that the app is updated I can't even login anymore on it.

I was watching Sportsnet via fire stick for the first few games of the season, it was stuttery (word?) and pretty much unwatchable. Obviously the Firestick is on wifi.

I switched and streamed Sportsnet through the XBOX instead, which is hardwired, and the stream was much better, essentially no issues.

Not sure if the issue was the Firestick or the Wifi, but switching to hardwired XBOX fixed it.

[Mazrim]

I was able to borrow my PC's ethernet cable to test the Shield with ethernet and sure enough that seemed to fix it. It seems like it takes a while for it to settle on a smooth connection yesterday - I was having some of the buffering and stuttering others have noted here, but eventually it did get smooth. It took quite a while for the Nashville/Minnesota game to stabilize, but the NYI/Vegas game was very smooth for the entire game. I'll have to grab an extra ethernet cable for the Shield for sure.

Funny story though, it seems like the inconsistency in connection ONLY happens on Live feeds. My wife was watching a replay of curling on Sportsnet Now through the Shield and it was a rock solid 60 fps feed the entire time on wifi. I tried out the same concept by rewinding about 15 minutes on the Nashville/Minnesota game and sure enough, no issues at all. Go figure.

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by gasman

I was watching Sportsnet via fire stick for the first few games of the season, it was stuttery (word?) and pretty much unwatchable. Obviously the Firestick is on wifi.

I switched and streamed Sportsnet through the XBOX instead, which is hardwired, and the stream was much better, essentially no issues.

Not sure if the issue was the Firestick or the Wifi, but switching to hardwired XBOX fixed it.

It won't even let me login on the fire stick, it gives me the code, the website login goes fine but the screen on the fire stick never advances like it's supposed to. I've tried it a bunch of different ways and times, nothing.

The buffering on the Shield is short and not a regular thing but coincided with the app update, all last season was flawless.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Hanni

It won't even let me login on the fire stick, it gives me the code, the website login goes fine but the screen on the fire stick never advances like it's supposed to. I've tried it a bunch of different ways and times, nothing.

The buffering on the Shield is short and not a regular thing but coincided with the app update, all last season was flawless.

I had the same issue with a Chromecast. Turns out the USB power brick I was using wasn't putting out enough amps. Not sure if Firestick would be the same issue, but you could try a different power source.

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I had the same issue with a Chromecast. Turns out the USB power brick I was using wasn't putting out enough amps. Not sure if Firestick would be the same issue, but you could try a different power source.

I think I worded this wrong, it's the Sportsnet app specifically that won't proceed past the login like it used to, the fire stick itself works fine (Netflix, Prime, etc. all work)

[Fuzz]

Ah, ok. Only thing I could think of is trying to flush the app cache.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...ZBJS5B8VBCGQ48

[Hanni]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Ah, ok. Only thing I could think of is trying to flush the app cache.


https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/custo...ZBJS5B8VBCGQ48

I'll have to give that a try. If it works can I still be angry at Sportsnet?

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Hanni

I'll have to give that a try. If it works can I still be angry at Sportsnet?

Absolutely.

[Aegypticus]

Does anyone know of a good way to get Sportsnet Now on a Roku? I desperately want to ditch our TV, but it seems like they have apps for every device under the sun except for Roku. It seems like my options are:

• Airplay from an iPhone or iPad, which seems clunky
• get a new, non-Roku streaming device
• get the games somewhere other than Sportsnet

It's a little bit frustrating that they don't have a Roku app. I'm no longer thrilled with our Rokus like I was when we first got them, but as far as I know they're still amongst the most popular devices out there. It's odd to me that they're not supported.

[TorqueDog]

Roku is having a bit of a rough go lately, it sounds like they're going to lose the YouTube app for new customers.

[Diemenz]

Roku is not where you want to be.

[Aegypticus]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

Roku is not where you want to be.

I wouldn't buy one today, but I'm also not keen on replacing perfectly serviceable devices.